The rating plate: model in one field, serial in another
Bradford White's homeowner FAQ answers the location question directly: the model number and serial number are located on the rating plate, and the published example marks the model number in one colour and the serial number in another so owners can tell the fields apart at a glance. The plate travels with the appliance, which is why the company's first instruction on any identification question is to find the plate rather than to look for paperwork.
Photographing that plate is the single most useful habit for a Bradford White owner. The model number drives parts and documentation, and the serial number drives both the date code and the registration record — and both are needed before a technician can confirm what is installed.
The date code: two characters for year and month
The date code reference chart states the rule in one sentence: the first two characters of the serial number represent the year and month of manufacture. Everything that follows is a sequential production number, so the first two characters are the only part of the serial that carries calendar information.
That means a Bradford White serial can be aged without a database as long as the two-character date code is read correctly and the plate is legible. It also means the rest of the number should never be interpreted as a date; it is a production sequence, and its length is the second documented fact about the format.
Seven digits before December 2007, eight after
The chart documents a format change: the sequential production number is seven digits in length before December 2007, abbreviated DM in the FAQ, and eight digits in length after that point. The date code at the front of the serial was not removed or restructured by the change — only the length of the trailing production sequence changed.
For a technician this is a quick sanity check. A serial whose production portion is seven digits belongs to an older build; an eight-digit production portion belongs to a newer one. When the two-character code and the production length are read together, the approximate age is immediate and the exact manufactured date can be confirmed through the official lookup.
Using the serial: the date lookup, warranty and parts
Bradford White's My Water Heater information page is the official date lookup: the company's FAQ on the age of a unit directs owners there and notes that the serial number is required, with instructions for finding it on the same page. The lookup returns the manufactured date rather than asking the owner to decode the code manually.
The serial is equally central to the other two jobs. Warranty coverage and registration are tracked against the product record, and parts identification starts from the model and serial so that the correct component is supplied. On a service visit, the number belongs on the report beside the model, the readings and the work performed, because it is what every future claim and order will reference.
Scope: what this scheme covers, and what to do if it does not fit
Bradford White publishes this date code as the serial number reference for its products, and the company's catalogue includes water heating equipment and, under its commercial range, boilers and volume water heaters. Boilers.ca documents the scheme exactly as the manufacturer publishes it; where a rating plate on a particular unit shows a different arrangement, the plate itself and Bradford White's support channels are the authority.
The safe procedure is always the same: read the plate, record the model and serial, and use the official lookup or contact the manufacturer rather than extrapolating from a number that does not match the documented pattern.